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		<title>McGladrey: Bank Notes</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Bank Notes delivers news and information critical to community banking professionals. The bi-monthly newsletter tackles issues ranging from IT security to regulatory compliance to operational improvement.]]></description>
		<link>http://mcgladrey.com/</link>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 04 Feb 2012 19:39:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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			<title>Private banks may be permitted to stay private</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Private-banks-may-be-permitted-to-stay-private</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Private-banks-may-be-permitted-to-stay-private</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(January/February 2012) Privately-held banks should pay special attention to a bill currently under proposal in Congress.  The bill is targeting the 500-shareholder rule, one of the key requirements for determining when a private company must begin filing 10-Qs and 10-Ks. It's a rule that has long marked the dividing line between private and public status for most private companies.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Pricing sources for determining fair value of investments</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Pricing-sources-for-determining-fair-value-of-investments</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Pricing-sources-for-determining-fair-value-of-investments</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(January/February 2012) The SEC staff has recently shown increasing interest in how companies are using pricing service information to determine the fair value of their investment securities. Third party pricing services are commonly used by financial institutions to estimate the fair value of their investment securities. The SEC staff is focused on securities that are not actively traded, as well as those for which there is no observable data upon which to estimate fair value (e.g., private-label mortgage backed securities, collateralized mortgage obligations, collateralized debt obligations). When an exchange traded price is not available, the pricing services are exercising a degree of discretion and judgment to reach an estimate.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Case Study Rapid operational assessment for a 400 million financial institution</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Case-Study-Rapid-operational-assessment-for-a-400-million-financial-institution</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Case-Study-Rapid-operational-assessment-for-a-400-million-financial-institution</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(January/February 2012) Project
This mid-sized Midwestern financial institution has faced economic challenges over the past few years. But at the time this case study was done, the economy was improving, and management expected that 2012 would provide fresh opportunities for growth. Especially promising were national growth trends that emerged in late 2011. Management expected these market trends to continue in 2012 and wanted to be ready for whatever new business opportunities came its way.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>FFIEC issues new guidance on internet banking authentication</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/FFIEC-issues-new-guidance-on-internet-banking-authentication</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/FFIEC-issues-new-guidance-on-internet-banking-authentication</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(January/February 2012) Anyone who follows the internet banking industry knows that fraud related to on-line account access has been on the upswing in recent years. So it's not surprising that the FFIEC (Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council) would issue a supplement to its original guidance on the subject of internet banking security. In fact, many may wonder what took them so long. It's been nearly six years since the first document, Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment, was released in October 2005.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Critical strategy considerations for depository institutions in 2012</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Critical-strategy-considerations-for-depository-institutions-in-2012</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Critical-strategy-considerations-for-depository-institutions-in-2012</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(January/February 2012) Lewis Carroll once made the astute remark, "If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." This maxim certainly holds true for our personal lives and maybe even for our business lives too. Success is achieved only when the path is clearly marked and the goal is well defined. Whether we're talking about people or companies, the most successful ones share the common characteristic of being good planners and executors.
This article is intended to refresh and crystallize the importance of developing a strategy - a business plan that will decisively improve the performance of your organization. First and foremost, take the time to develop a plan. As we come out of the challenges of 2007-2011, there are critical strategy considerations for financial institutions that should be explored and exploited in 2012 and beyond.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Making the most out of SOX FDICIA compliance</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Making-the-most-out-of-SOX-FDICIA-compliance</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Making-the-most-out-of-SOX-FDICIA-compliance</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(November/December 2011) It's hard to believe that the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) will be 10 years old in July 2012. As many companies will remember, those early years were pretty rough. The early adopters – those first companies earmarked for compliance– were given only until the end of 2004 to bring themselves into conformity with the law. While the requirement was clear, it wasn't so clear how they would accomplish this herculean feat in the short time span allowed.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Fresh focus on IT Preparing for a new regulatory phase</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Fresh-focus-on-IT-Preparing-for-a-new-regulatory-phase</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Fresh-focus-on-IT-Preparing-for-a-new-regulatory-phase</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(November/December 2011) Like everything else in business, the focus of regulators changes from time to time. For example, in response to large scale hacking and security breaches in the early 2000s, examiners turned their attention to Information Technology (IT) security issues. In response, many banks invested heavily in IT security during those years, only to see regulator interest fall by the wayside after the calamitous financial events of late 2008.
That led to a new phase, one in which examiners put IT on the back burner so they could focus on "standard" financial issues that were seen as pivotal to banks" very survival. Most enforcement actions during this phase were related to safety and soundness, with regulators asking such basic questions as "is the bank well capitalized, is loan loss allowance adequate, does it have sufficient liquidity and is it making safe loans?" In view of the large number of bank failures in recent years (408 since the start of 2008), this shift in focus was both understandable and predictable.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Taxing earnings and profits in a bank merger</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Taxing-earnings-and-profits-in-a-bank-merger</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Taxing-earnings-and-profits-in-a-bank-merger</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(November/December 2011) When two banks merge and shareholders of the acquired bank receive "boot" (taxable consideration), how does one measure earnings and profits (E&P) to determine if the boot may be taxed as a dividend or as capital gains income? This is a common question that arises after bank mergers, yet the answer may not be entirely clear to financial managers at either institution. Because banks are highly regulated, the issue is important for both tax and regulatory reasons. So let's look at how this problem might play out by considering the following two mergers:]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Managing risk in todays regulatory environment </title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Managing-risk-in-todays-regulatory-environment</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Managing-risk-in-todays-regulatory-environment</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(November/December 2011) Today's banking institutions are facing a heightened regulatory environment. In response to recent financial crises, government bodies have stepped up scrutiny of banks' risk management practices. Regulators are asking more and more questions about their Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) systems, and whether supervisory frameworks are adequate. Debt rating agencies have also increased their examination of banks' risk management processes. Even small community banks, historically unaccustomed to fielding such questions, are receiving increased scrutiny.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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			<title>Maximize performance with key risk indicators</title>
			<link>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Maximize-performance-with-key-risk-indicators</link>
			<guid>http://mcgladrey.com/Bank-Notes/Maximize-performance-with-key-risk-indicators</guid>
			<description><![CDATA[(September/October 2011) In the current economic environment, it is critical that financial institutions&mdash;particularly community banks&mdash;be aware of emerging risks facing their company. An efficient and effective way to do this is to identify and develop key risk indicators. Unlike performance indicators that focus on measuring historical activity, risk indicators focus on emerging risks that threaten the company's continued performance or recovery. Establishing this framework enables a financial institution to recover, improve or maintain its performance, as well as improve its response to emerging trends and enhance its policies governing operational and regulatory areas.]]></description>
		<dc:creator>McGladrey</dc:creator>
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